


loss doesn't mean happiness can't be found

by Hellokaelyn



Series: Fictober 2019 [4]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fictober, Hurt/Comfort, small mention of 16x18 and 16x10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 22:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20897192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: Nick experiences loss, but just because there's pain and sadness doesn't mean there aren't things to be happy about.





	loss doesn't mean happiness can't be found

**Author's Note:**

> may be OOC, I have no idea.
> 
> Prompt: "I know you didn't ask for this."

Standing in front of the window he had looked out so many times growing up, Nick let his eyes slide shut for a second. When he opened them, it was to the view of Gibbs, Tony, McGee, and Jimmy carrying furniture out to the truck while Jack, Kasie, Ducky, and Ziva carried boxes.  
  
It would be hard to go downstairs and see everything gone, nothing left but an empty house to represent how empty the Torres family had become.  
  
His eyes slid shut once more when he felt her step beside him and slip her hand into his.  
  
Not long after he joined the team, Lucia had decided DC held too many memories of George for her and Amanda, and so she moved back to Florida into their childhood home that Lucia had owned since their mom passed. It was looked after for the past few years by neighbors that had been around since they were young.  
  
Nick could feel the guilt building that he hadn't kept in contact with them enough. It seemed some habits from being undercover were hard to break.  
  
And a week ago, he got a call.  
  
Lucia and Amanda were in a car accident. Neither of them made it.  
  
A sniffle escaped and he raised a hand to furiously wipe away a tear. Ellie squeezed his hand, leaning against him.  
  
"Maybe if I had talked to them more-"  
  
"Don't do that Nick." Ellie said softly, raising her head from his shoulder to look at him. "You know that wouldn't have changed anything."  
  
"It's some sick karma, I just know it. I failed as a brother and uncle, hell I didn't even know Amanda was going to Yale-"  
  
"Nick." Ellie yanked her hand from his to forcefully make him turn to face her, hands gripping his arms tightly. "I know you didn't ask for this."  
  
A cry he had been holding in broke free, and with watery eyes Ellie directed them towards the window seat, pulling Nick to her. His face against her shoulder as he cried. Ellie wrapped her arms around him tightly, rubbing his back as his body shook with his cries. A few tears ran down her own face, it hurt her to see him in this state. She had only witnessed him cry twice before. Once when he told her the whole story of Sofia, and the other time when he revealed to her the anxiety he had tried so hard to hide after the dubbed 'mona lisa' case, the case they had before his reveal being his breaking point.  
  
And so they sat on the window seat in his childhood bedroom and let the emotions that had been building come out.  
  
"Guess I'm the last Torres." He mumbled in a hoarse voice once he pulled away from her.  
  
"What if- what if I told you that you weren't?"  
  
Nick looked at her oddly. "Huh?"  
  
She bit her lip, and grabbing one of his hands she gently placed it on her stomach. "I'm pregnant Nick."  
  
"You- You're pregnant?" He croaked out.  
  
Ellie nodded. "Yeah..yeah, I am. So you're not the only Torres.."  
  
"Wait does that mean-"  
  
"Just because we don't plan on getting married doesn't mean I'm not giving this baby your last name, Nick." Ellie smiled, watching as one came to his own lips, both of his hands now resting on her stomach joined with her own. "A baby Torres."  
  
"Baby Torres." He mumbled to himself, voice and face filled with amazement.  
  
Without warning, Nick yanked his hands from her stomach, cupped her face, and pulled her in for a searing kiss that had her completely and utterly melting.  
  
Baby Torres, not even born yet, had become a little savior. As with the loss of his only blood family, Nick would have descended into a dark place, destroying not only his relationship with Ellie but his relationships with the people who had become more than just co-workers. This baby gave him a push, the idea of knowing he would soon be responsible for a tiny human and love for someone he hadn't even met yet overpowering any darkness wanting to seep in.  
  
Nick wasn't technically a father yet, but he would be..and that gave him a strength he hadn't even known was missing. Filling a place in his heart he didn't know was empty since that fateful Christmas a year ago.  
  
Without a word, Nick lifted Ellie and walked to the bed still in the room, just a mattress on it now, and lowered her onto it.  
  
"Nick-" Ellie breathed out breathlessly. "Everyone is out there.."  
  
"They aren't." He told her while pulling down the shorts she was wearing at a slow torturous pace. "They already left for the storage unit."  
  
Ellie blinked. "Oh.." She hadn't even noticed the truck had left along with the others in the car. "Well..in that case.."  
  
Nick's laugh filled the room as Ellie expertly flipped them, her now being the one to push him onto the mattress.  
  
Pain still lingered in his chest at the loss, but in that moment it dulled, and he was able to forget even if only for a little while as he lost himself in everything that was Ellie. 


End file.
